University of Texas at San Antonio
ER-5: Sustainability Course Identification

The inventory of sustainability-focused and sustainability-related courses offered in UTSA was developed by a team of faculty and students under the supervision of the UTSA sustainability council. The inventory was based on UTSA's definition of sustainability as stated in the university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures (http://utsa.edu/hop/chapter9/9-43.html ), which defines sustainability as: "meeting the needs of the present users without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This can be accomplished by seeking a balanced approach between the economic, social and environmental needs of the community and university operations. Understanding that sustainability can be viewed in a very broad context, this policy is initially directed towards the environmental and energy aspects as they relate to the UTSA community. Further evolutions of this policy may include the social and historical aspects that are often associated with broader sustainability efforts." The inventory was based on a keyword search of the titles and descriptions of all courses offered in UTSA during the spring, summer, and fall 2010 semesters. Multiple sections of the same course were excluded from the inventory except when the sections covered differed content. Courses offered in multiple semesters within the inventory period were counted separately. This methodology likely underestimates the number of courses especially in the sustainability-related category. A survey of UTSA academic departments, in which departments will be asked to self-identify sustainability-focused and sustainability-related courses they offer is currently being planned.